Manchester flight advice needed

[Grace2007]

Hi all, we have POR booked from 9th October 2021 for two weeks - I know things are up in the air about whether that resort will open or not but I’m hoping Disney will just sort us out nearer the time. My concern is trying to book flights not knowing if we will want to travel or not (vaccine dependent).

We usually fly from MAN to MCO with Virgin and just pay up front for the flights. Obviously i want to secure my flights but would rather not pay all my money up front as I usually do. So any ideas how I book to only pay a deposit ... do I book a fly drive .. a hotel for the night before to make it a package holiday? Which company would you use or can I do a fly drive with virgin Atlantic direct? (We hire a car on our trips anyway) ... any advice and help would be gratefully received

[Radcliffe]

Hi there - watching your post with interest as we are in a similar position - except got a deposit on a villa later in October. Noticed another post saying people had booked flights and an airport hotel with BA to just pay deposit- not sure if this is possible with Virgin though . Thanks for asking the question!

[Grace2007]

Yes, that’s what made me ask the question. We have flown BA before from Gatwick but prefer Manchester (if the price is okay) ... I wish BA would fly direct from Manchester but also thinking of Tui and the Dreamliner from a northern airport but need to do a bit of research on that! We are doing a three week stay so need to find a villa for the last week 😁

[sheluk]

So the combination of two elements like what Ba are doing makes it a package as opposed to flight only, hence why I imagine they are letting you pay deposit only.

I haven’t seen that with virgin before from the UK end but you never know in these strange times. I wonder if the website would allow you to book one night accommodation in Orlando even if you don’t use it for the same purpose.

I’m in Manchester and TUI are more of your traditional package. So it’s usually fly drive or nothing. They don’t often have many seats outside of the usual 7/10/11/14 days as they could struggle to fill the inbound, but it may happen for 3 weeks or you could request it.

[princessnicki]

I booked a package with Travel Counsellors, only paid £150 each deposit and balance isnt due until 8 weeks before, it might be worth asking if they can do a fly drive or even booking a really cheap hotel for a night or two to turn it into a package

[supermumof3]

I think the only way to do deposit only with VA is to book a fly drive or package... Flydrives with them seem to be super expensive at the moment.

We have booked TUI from Manchester for next year (July) & managed to get 3 weeks... it's the first time we've ever secured that length of stay with them! We have tried in previous years but the price increased considerably however for next year it came in at exactly the same price as 14 nights

[Grace2007]

Thanks, I will do a bit of research with TUI and see what I can find!

[Memories4You]

Hi, In the past we have paid on a credit card, and then transferred it over to an interest free card so spreading the payments over 18 months or so.Ive just booked VA from Manchester for next july and although I've paid upfront if we can't go or change our minds i can defer the booking up until December 2022. Not sure if any of that helps! Good luck.

[unitedtrekkie]

Hi, I have credit with Virgin until Sept 2022 but decided to leave it as a credit and book via Charter Travel as I have used them in thepast and always been very happy with the service. I have paid £150 deposit for premium Economy flights Sept 2021 returning Oct 2021 and Intermediate SUV car rental